Patrick and Van de Putte joust over debate date

AUSTIN— State. Sens. Dan Patrick and Leticia Van de Putte, the two candidates running for lieutenant governor, agree on this much:They’re OK to debate at a Texas Tribune-hosted function sometime next month.

But there’s one fine detail they haven’t reached a consensus on:exactly what day to hold the debate.

Van de Putte, a San Antonio Democrat, on Tuesday accepted an invitation to a one-hour debate moderated by the Tribune’s Ross Ramsey. She specified that she’d do it on Sept. 24, which is a Wednesday and was one of two dates offered by the Tribune.

However, Patrick’s campaign said Wednesday that date won’t work because it falls on the start of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

Patrick, a Houston Republican, has agreed to debate on Sept. 27, a Saturday.

“Since the first date falls during Rosh Hashanah, we will accept the second,” Patrick spokesman Alejandro Garcia said in a statement. “Our team is prepared to finalize remaining details with the Texas Tribune and the Van de Putte campaign,” Garcia concluded.”

Texas Tribune CEO and editor in chief Evan Smith proposed both dates in a letter to Van de Putte’s campaign. He wrote that the dates not only worked for KLRU — Austin’s PBS affiliate that will offer a feed for other broadcast and public television stations – but that they “conveniently sit between the dates of the two gubernatorial debates.”

“I hope that one or both are acceptable; if not, let’s discuss what dates would be,” Smith wrote.

Conversations are ongoing to try to reach an accord.

Van de Putte’s camp said it picked the Sept. 24 date because it’s a weekday, when voters are more likely to tune in to a political debate (as opposed to a college football Saturday in late September). But campaign spokesman Manny Garcia said negotiations are ongoing.

“We’ll go back and look at the drawing board for other dates,” Garcia said. “We will do our best to accommodate what’s in the best interest of Texas voters.”